Friday Coffee with PJ - Yet Another Special Weekend Edition

Yikes! Two weeks in a row I have failed to get my Friday Coffee with PJ post done in time! Last week I blamed it on the holiday. This week I will blame it on the wrestling bout I had with a kidney stone (see Wednesday's post for more details!). So ... as you pour yourself a cup of your favorite weekend morning brew (for me it's the same as Friday - and everyday for that matter!) ... here are couple of random thoughts.

1. I could have very easily gotten bent out of shape over the postponement of this week's surgery. For starters, my arm has been injured since April. Even though it does not hurt all the time, it sure hurts enough. So I would like to take the first big step toward its healing! In addition, I am not the bravest man this world has ever seen (just put me in a room full of cockroaches and you will see just what I am saying!). Just the thought of a surgeon slicing my forearm makes me faint of head and heart! And finally, the type of repair I am having done involves a long healing process. So the sooner I get the surgery done, the sooner down the road I will have my left arm back! So as I said above, I could have very easily gotten discouraged over this postponement. But I did not. How so? Hmm. Have you ever had a kidney stone? So I guess I was a bit preoccupied which did not allow for any time to really think much about the postponed surgery. I also leaned on the reality of God's sovereignty - and this is key! For reasons known only to God, He allowed this kidney stone to get in the way of my comfort and ultimately my surgery. And since God never makes a mistake, I am OK with that. But I am praying that God will, in his providence, allow me to be well enough to go through the surgery this upcoming Thursday. Would you please pray for me along those lines? Thanks!

2. The other day I tweeted a great Paul Tripp quote that I had run across. "No one is more influential in your life than you are, because no one talks to you more than you do." That is so true. Therefore it is important that your self-talk is saturated in God's truth. You see, the Enemy is a liar and his native language is that of the lie (John 8:44). Since Satan has this world system firmly in his grip (1 John 5:19), the messages we are bombarded with day in and day out are dripping with the devil's lies. Unfortunately, all too often, we buy into these lies. And so we tell ourselves that physical beauty, money (and all that money buys), status, power, fame .... all these things and more will make us a better us! Nothing could be more wrong! We need to combat these lies with the truth of God's Word. As we tell ourselves what really matters in life ... we need to get the substance of our self-talk in line with God's truth. Only the Creator knows what really matters ... and what will help us to live lives that matter - for Him and all eternity. SOOOOO are you getting to know the BOOK? You can't influence yourself with the Truth if you don't know it! Take a moment and check out our CARPE DIEM Challenge by clicking on the Carpe Diem button to the right. And then start digging!

Thanks for stopping by . . .
pj

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Friday Coffee with PJ - Yet Another Special Weekend Edition

Yikes! Two weeks in a row I have failed to get my Friday Coffee with PJ post done in time! Last week I blamed it on the holiday. This week I will blame it on the wrestling bout I had with a kidney stone (see Wednesday's post for more details!). So ... as you pour yourself a cup of your favorite weekend morning brew (for me it's the same as Friday - and everyday for that matter!) ... here are couple of random thoughts.

1. I could have very easily gotten bent out of shape over the postponement of this week's surgery. For starters, my arm has been injured since April. Even though it does not hurt all the time, it sure hurts enough. So I would like to take the first big step toward its healing! In addition, I am not the bravest man this world has ever seen (just put me in a room full of cockroaches and you will see just what I am saying!). Just the thought of a surgeon slicing my forearm makes me faint of head and heart! And finally, the type of repair I am having done involves a long healing process. So the sooner I get the surgery done, the sooner down the road I will have my left arm back! So as I said above, I could have very easily gotten discouraged over this postponement. But I did not. How so? Hmm. Have you ever had a kidney stone? So I guess I was a bit preoccupied which did not allow for any time to really think much about the postponed surgery. I also leaned on the reality of God's sovereignty - and this is key! For reasons known only to God, He allowed this kidney stone to get in the way of my comfort and ultimately my surgery. And since God never makes a mistake, I am OK with that. But I am praying that God will, in his providence, allow me to be well enough to go through the surgery this upcoming Thursday. Would you please pray for me along those lines? Thanks!

2. The other day I tweeted a great Paul Tripp quote that I had run across. "No one is more influential in your life than you are, because no one talks to you more than you do." That is so true. Therefore it is important that your self-talk is saturated in God's truth. You see, the Enemy is a liar and his native language is that of the lie (John 8:44). Since Satan has this world system firmly in his grip (1 John 5:19), the messages we are bombarded with day in and day out are dripping with the devil's lies. Unfortunately, all too often, we buy into these lies. And so we tell ourselves that physical beauty, money (and all that money buys), status, power, fame .... all these things and more will make us a better us! Nothing could be more wrong! We need to combat these lies with the truth of God's Word. As we tell ourselves what really matters in life ... we need to get the substance of our self-talk in line with God's truth. Only the Creator knows what really matters ... and what will help us to live lives that matter - for Him and all eternity. SOOOOO are you getting to know the BOOK? You can't influence yourself with the Truth if you don't know it! Take a moment and check out our CARPE DIEM Challenge by clicking on the Carpe Diem button to the right. And then start digging!